Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 263: Fight the Hero with All Your Strength

Su Baoheng covered his mouth and coughed twice, then continued, "It's useless to say more at this time. The court has made a decision, and our navy can't change it by talking. We should follow His Majesty's order and take it one step at a time.

As for Meng Tian, the guardian of the country, although he has no patience to wait for the navy's help, we cannot abandon him. Moreover, the enemy's occupation of Haizhou is not conducive to the navy's expedition. Zheng family, please tell us about the enemy and our situation, and let our navy dispel their arrogance.

"Yes!" Wanyan Zhengjia responded, "According to our scouts and captured prisoners, the bandits who came here are not the Loyalty Army, but the Dongping Army. They number about 12,000 men, and their leader is Zhang Rong."

Seeing some of the generals in the tent look strange, Wanyan Zhengjia nodded: "It's the person you are thinking of, Zhang Rong Zhang Diwan."

Xu Wen also restrained his smile, his expression becoming somewhat solemn: "Old acquaintance, the hero of Liangshan Lake, the hero of Suotou Beach. Hehe, decades ago, when I was hanging out in Mizhou, I heard of such a person, and he is still alive.

Dongping Army, hey, Dongping Army, since that's the name, why don't these guys go back to their hometown of Dongping Prefecture and fight instead of coming to Mizhou?!"

Wanyan Zhengjia waited quietly for Xu Wen to finish venting his complaints before continuing, "The enemy army didn't attack Zhucheng (the capital of Mizhou), but instead marched along the coast. Currently, approximately 4,000 of them are entrenched in Caoqiao Town, while the majority of the 8,000 are in Xinyang Town. They're using Mount Langya as a cover, and they seem to have some hidden agenda."

Xu Wen thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "This thing is coming for us! It's already within a hundred miles. If we wait any longer, we might be smuggled into our beds by a thief's hand!"

Wanyan Zhengjia shook his head: "The navy cavalry only has a thousand horses, so they can't make a long-distance attack. It's better to wait for them to tire themselves out."

Xu Wen tapped the table gently. "But we can't wait this long. All our ships are in the bay, and their sails are supported by oiled silk. They're fine in the wind and waves, but if the joint camp catches fire, there's no hope of saving it. The entire nation's navy is here. We can't let the enemy get close and hope for a lucky break."

After these words were spoken, not only Wanyan Zhengjia fell silent, but even Su Baoheng was silent.

The Jin Dynasty had a huge number of ships. If they were spread out on the sea, they would definitely be a huge force. But if they were gathered together, they would appear too bloated. However, the sailors in the Jin Dynasty's navy were all conscripted men. The Jin army's high-ranking officials did not dare to station the ships separately, for fear that if they missed a ship, the sailors would scatter.

This ultimately resulted in almost all of the 70,000 naval officers and soldiers being crowded together on Chenjia Island. Even the pressure of fire prevention on a normal day was enormous, let alone a surprise attack from land?

In this bay, which was later called Jiaozhou Bay, it was possible that everything would be burned down by a fire.

After a moment, Su Baoheng finally said, "General Xu is right. This matter is of great importance and cannot be left to chance. In this case, we must send troops."

"Zheng family, we have 70,000 naval officers, not to mention 40,000 sailors, and 30,000 regular troops. The generals of the Shenfeng Army, Weizhen Army, and Wucheng Army are all here. What are your plans?"

Shenfeng Army General Punian Dahe was about to speak when Meng Bin, the Weizhen Army General, tugged at his sleeve. Wucheng Army General Xu Wen was also about to speak when Su Baoheng glared at him.

Wanyan Zhengjia hesitated when he saw this.

Seeing this, Su Baoheng said directly: "Zheng family, don't hesitate, just tell me your plan directly, and I will give the orders. The rest of the people can't blame you."

Although Wanyan Zhengjia was a reserved man, he was also decisive. He immediately said, "The Wucheng Army's 10,000 regular troops are the Great Han Army, mainly Shandong Han people. The 40,000 sailors in the navy are mostly Shandong Han people who were forcibly conscripted. To prevent collusion, the Wucheng Army must be deployed in full force."

Xu Wen's fists clenched suddenly, anger flashing across his face before disappearing. He simply smiled, but said nothing else. Wanyan Zhengjia continued, "The Divine Front Army is composed of the Meng'an and Mouke households of the nation. To maintain fairness, the entire army must be mobilized."

Pu Nianheda nodded slightly to show that he had no objection.

This is not just for the sake of fairness, but also because Wanyan Zhengjia, as the commander-in-chief, must have trustworthy power in his hands. If Wu Chengjun is taken out, and the Han people rebel, Wanyan Zhengjia will not have reliable power to suppress them, which will be a serious matter.

Wanyan Zhengjiafu pointed to Meng Bin, the commander-in-chief of the Weizhen Army. "We must leave troops to defend the naval base. Commander Meng's troops are a mix of Liaodong Han, Xi, and Bohai people, and they are trustworthy. Commander Meng can personally lead 5,000 troops to garrison Chen Island. Send another 5,000, led by Deputy Commander Gao Shi, to join the main army."

Su Baoheng raised his eyebrows: "Twenty-five thousand regular troops?"

Wanyan Zhengjia nodded: "Twenty-five thousand regular troops."

The purpose of naval battles these days was still to deploy troops on land. The real strategic decisive battles based on naval battles did not appear until the Battle of Poyang Lake between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang in later generations.

Therefore, even though the Jin army was a navy, its main force was mostly infantry of the marine corps.

Xu Wen thought for a moment, then knocked on the table again. "Fuck him! These are troops prepared for Emperor Zhao of the Southern Song Dynasty. Now the first blow is going to be delivered to Zhang Rong. This guy is really lucky."

Wanyan Zhengjia frowned and said, "General Xu, what you said is strange. Zhao Gou is a pig-dog. If it weren't for the support of heroes like Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, he would have been captured by King Liang (Wanyan Wushu) and taken to Wuguo City to eat dog shit.

"How can a filthy bastard like Zhao Gou be compared to a hero like Zhang Rong? In my opinion, taking Zhao Gou's life is easy, but to fight against a Han hero like Zhang Rong, you must use all your strength to deal with him! Therefore, you should not spare any strength, but should press forward with your entire army!"

Xu Wen laughed heartily: "That does make some sense."

After laughing, Xu Wen actually sighed deeply and fell silent. I wonder if he was thinking about the series of absurd events during the Song Dynasty's southward migration during the Jingkang period.

"That's it." Seeing that the biggest troublemaker had stopped talking, Su Baoheng gave the order directly: "Ni Xun, Shang Jian, Liang Saner, the three of you are the chief officers of the navy. I want you to maintain order among the 40,000 sailors. Can you do it?"

The three civil and military officials stood up at the same time and bowed in agreement.

"Zheng Jia." Su Baoheng looked at Wanyan Zheng Jia again and said sternly, "As the deputy commander of the navy and a general of the imperial clan, you should personally lead the Shenfeng Army, Weizhen Army, and Wucheng Army into battle. The three generals all obey your orders, but you must not be arrogant and must respect them at all times. Do you understand?"

All the generals in the tent had stood up at this time. The three general managers and three deputy general managers first saluted Su Baoheng to show that they obeyed the order, and then saluted Wanyan Zhengjia to show his obedience.

"That's it." Su Baoheng waved his hand: "Everything is done. Send troops tomorrow to defeat Zhang Rong!"

The civil and military officials in the tent responded loudly and filed out again.

(End of this chapter)